Report 2015-130 Recommendation 21 Responses

Report 2015-130: The CalGang Criminal Intelligence System: As the Result of Its Weak Oversight Structure, It Contains Questionable Information That May Violate Individuals' Privacy Rights (Release Date: August 2016)

Recommendation #21 To: Justice, Department of

To promote transparency and encourage public participation in CalGang's meetings, Justice should post from the past five years, all available agendas, minutes, and referenced attachments from scheduled and ad hoc board and committee meetings, as well as all other documents of significance. Justice should post these materials by October 31, 2016, to its website unless doing so would compromise criminal intelligence information or other information that must be shielded from public release.

1-Year Agency Response

Justice management discussed with Chairman of the CalGang Executive Board at the meetings in September 2016, December 2016, and February 2017. The board has advised that all available documents have been provided to Justice. Justice posted all documents received to the Attorney General's website at https://oag.ca.gov/calgang/meeting.

Although Justice's website does not contain any CalGang meeting agendas and minutes for 2015, and is likely missing a number of other meeting agendas and minutes from the previous five years, Justice appears to have made a good faith effort to obtain these documents. The CalGang Executive Board may simply not have retained or prepared these documents.

6-Month Agency Response

Justice management attended the CalGang Executive Board in September 2016 and discussed this recommendation with the board. The board is working to compile available information to provide to Justice to post to its website.

Justice followed up with the Chairman of the CalGang Executive Board requesting the documents and discussed this request at the recent CalGang Executive Board meeting in February 2017. Justice will continue to inquire with the Chairman of the CalGang Executive Board until the documents are provided.

Justice currently has no existing authority, resources or program in place to handle oversight or administration of CalGang, however, Justice has begun dialogue with the board on each recommendation and will do everything possible to begin implementation until additional resources and funding are granted to the department.

Estimated Completion Date: Unknown

Response Date: February 2017

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status:
Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Justice management attended the CalGang Executive Board in September 2016 and discussed this recommendation with the board. The board is working to compile available information to provide to Justice to post to its website.

Justice currently has no existing resources or program in place to handle oversight or administration of CalGang, however, the department has begun dialogue with the board on each recommendation and will do everything possible to begin implementation until additional resources and funding are granted to the department.